The Morning After
by enchantment1972
Summary: This is the sequel to She'll Follow Him Anywhere. It's the morning after the Doctor embarrassed Jackie and he attempts flattery to get back into her good graces. He thinks he's so clever but Jackie has a surprise for him in the end. **Second of the Forever After series**


Author's Notes: This is a sequel to She'll Follow Him Anywhere. It's best to read that first in order for this story to make complete sense. Anything in _italics _are the Doctor's thoughts. A little hint, if you really look at the planet's name, you will see why I chose it.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in relation to Dr. Who.

The sun was up, the birds were singing and the Doctor felt like he was about to enter the gates of Hell. He had woken up in his underwear and I heart Torchwood t-shirt that Jackie had given him on his first night at the mansion. It had belonged to Mickey.

He rubbed his eyes and groaned when he remembered what happened after dinner. Not even Mickey the Idiot could have ballsed up the evening like he did last night.

He couldn't believe the things that he had said to Jackie, and in front of Rose and Pete as well. How would they ever forgive him?

Although to be fair, they were partially to blame. Both Pete and Rose had Torchwood training and should have taken him down long before he had went that far.

Damn his human half . This never would have happened before the metacrisis. He sighed as he dressed for breakfast.

It was worth it though, to have this one life with Rose. He just needed to be on his best behavior with Jackie if he wanted to keep it. He straightened his tie and with one last look in the mirror, he headed out to face the firing squad.

He walked into the kitchen and saw Jackie cooking breakfast on the stove. She was enveloped by a cloud of steam, reminding him of one of the witches in MacBeth.

There she is, the woman who put the Oi! in boisterous and the nosh in nauseous, Jackie Tyler. "Good morning, Jackie!" he said in a sing-song voice with this brightest smile.

Jackie turned to look back at him with a glare. "I didn't think we'd be seeing you anytime soon, this morning. Not after the state you were in last night," she said with a smirk.

_And which state was that? The one before or after you slapped me, you shrewish old harridan?_

The Doctor returned her smile with a grimace and said, "Yes, well…" and flushed red with embarrassment. _Come on. Brave heart, Doctor._

He sat down at the kitchen table, clapped his hands together and declared, "Whatever you've made smells declicious! A big greasy fry up is exactly what's needed to finish sorting me out. Just what the doctor ordered, so to speak. Heh, heh."

Jackie merely gave him a deadpan look and slammed the breakfast plate down on the table. "Well, we're not having a big greasy fry up. I've made pancakes and sausage."

He looked down at the plate and saw that Jackie had added her own special touch. Artfully sprawled across the pancakes in maple syrup were the words, "You're Dead", and the sausages had been arranged in the form of a one-fingered salute.

The Doctor's mouth twisted into a wry grin. _Still upset then, I see._

Rose walked in and headed straight over to the Doctor. She gently brushed her hand through his hair and cupped his cheek and asked, "How are you feeling, love?"

The Doctor put on his best pout and puppy dog eyes and replied, "I've been better, but I still have enough Gallifreyan biology left to expedite the recovery process."

He grabbed Rose around the waist, nuzzled into her side and purred, "I'm sure that with the proper amount of tender, loving care that I'll be right as rain before you could say Raxacoricofallapatorius."

"In other words, he's milking it for all it's worth," said Jackie as she put a plate down in front of Rose. "Now hurry and eat your breakfast love, before it gets too cold."

Rose sat down and sniffed the food appreciately. "Thanks, Mum. It looks gorgeous."

Jackie poured them each a glass of juice while they tucked into their food.

The Doctor found the pancakes had a peculiar taste and chewed his food more slowly as he tried to decipher the ingredients. He looked up and noticed Rose was gesturing to her mum washing up at the sink while she mouthed the word, "Apologize."

The Doctor set his fork down and said, "Jackie, I must apologize for my behavior last night. I don't know what came over me. Actually, I do. It was the effects of the cognac. So technically, it wasn't my fault."

Both Rose and Jackie stared at him in disbelief until Jackie turned away with a snort of disgust.

The Doctor glanced back at her with his own look of repugnance. _Well, that was rather rude. Time to pour on the charm then._

He tried again, "You know Jackie, I took Tony to the park the other day and realized that I still found it hard to believe that you have such a young child. You look really good for your age."

Rose's fork clattered onto her plate and Jackie kept her back to him as she gripped the counter tightly.

The Doctor shot Rose a look of concern and whispered, "Do you think they taste rather odd too?"

Rose glared at him and pointed at her mum and whispered back, "You basically called her old! Fix it!"

The Doctor's eyebrows went straight to his hairline when he realized his faux pas and hastily tried to amend his statement.

He looked slightly panicked and rambled, "Of course, I didn't mean to infer that you were of an age that should be considered old. More a woman of great maturity, well seasoned past your prime. You're timeless, really." _With a face that could stop a clock. I'm a Timelord, I should know._

He rewarded his brilliant improvisation with another bite of pancakes and munched thoughtfully at their unusual texture.

His smug smile turned into a frown when Jackie started throwing everything into the dishwasher and slammed the door with a loud thud. He could tell that more effort would be required when Rose continued to give him a hard stare.

T_hat was okay. He not only had the moves but he had the lines too. Shakespeare didn't admire him for nothing._

The Doctor started off, "We haven't always been on the best terms but I've always admired you, Jackie Tyler." She turned around and gave him an incredulous look.

He waved his hand dismissively at her gaze and said, "No, seriously. You are an exceptional woman, the type of woman found only in myth and legend." _Like Harpies, Furies, Gorgons. Actually, she and Medusa shared a very similar effect with their gaze._

Jackie was currently fixing him with that stare which was usually followed in quick succession by the patented Tyler slap. _What went wrong there?_

He looked over to Rose for assistance but she simply went back to eating her breakfast after a muttered, "You're on your own, mate."

Okay. Time to give it one last academy try. "And don't get me started on your cooking!" he declared as he finished off his pancakes and washed them down with his juice. _Yes, please don't get me started on your cooking. It's all I can do to finish it. What's in this stuff anyway? My full Time Lord senses could have analyzed it instantly._

He waggled his finger at her and continued, "I'll have gained several stones in no time!" _As opposed to feeling like I'm eating them. Heh. That was a good one._

Jackie came back over to collect his dishes, or so he thought, when she walked over to the table. She reached for his plate with one hand and have him a hard slap to the back of his head with the other.

"Owww! What in Rassilon's name was that for?" he asked and rubbed the back of his head.

Rose shouted, "Mum! Why did you do that? He was trying to be nice! I mean, I know he was crap at it but he was doing his best!"

The Doctor flinched when Jackie raised her hand but she just continued to hold it up in the air.

Rose gasped, "Mum, is that what I think it is?"

"Yup," answered Jackie sarcastically, popping the p.

The Doctor's slight confusion turned into utter bewilderment when Rose spun around in a fury and growled, "What did you say about her?"

He looked back and forth between the two, befuddled beyond words. "What are you on about, Rose? You know everything that I've said to her. You've been here the entire time."

Rose stood with her hands on her hips and ground out, "Not with your gob, with your mind!"

The Doctor choked out, "What?"

Rose walked over to her mum and grabbed the hand with the ring that Jackie had been showing them.

The Doctor couldn't see anything but an ordinary ring. "I don't understand," he said as his gaze swept back to Rose.

Rose replied, "Well, let me explain it to you. A few months before you came here, the Ambassador from Owthtiwretteb visited Earth and gave Mum the ring as a goodwill gesture. The Owthiwretteb are a highly advanced technological race that is only matched by their incredibly high level telepathy. They're so brilliant that they've been able to create jewelry that have combined the two. It allows the wearer to receive any thought transmissions that are SPECIFICALLY directed at them."

The Doctor went deathly pale and began to sweat. _Oh, sh*t._ "You mean…" he emitted in a high pitched squeak.

"Yes, Doctor," spoke Rose as if she was talking to the village idiot. "Mum has been picking up on your thoughts. So what exactly were you thinking?"

The Doctor tried to answer but his head had begun to throb rather violently and he became sick to his stomach. The room was deadly silent until he croaked out, "I'm not feeling very well."

Rose eyed him cautiously and tried to decide if he was faking or not. "Did your hangover come back?" What happened to that superior Time Lord physiology?"

The Doctor took deep breaths as he attempted to calm down his body's reactions.  
>"It's been halved," he replied, "and no, it's not the hangover. I believe it was the pancakes. Jackie, what was in those pancakes?"<p>

Jackie answered, "Same as what was in the juice. Pears."

Rose cried out, "Mum! The Doctor hates pears! The Gallifreyan digestive tract is very sensitive to them, it's the whole reason he never eats them!"

Jackie didn't take her eyes off of the Doctor as she gave an enormously evil grin and said, "I know."

The Doctor stared at Jackie with widening eyes and an ever fading pallor. He swore that the music from the Psycho shower scene was playing inside his head.

"Oi! Tony Tyler!" shouted Jackie down the hall as she exited the room. "Stay out of your dad's Hitchcock collection! Do you want to be staying up all night again with nightmares?"

Rose looked on in sympathy as the Doctor shoved past her like he did the night before, in order to find the nearest loo. She felt so bad for him. She knew he hated repeats.

Rose leaned back against the kitchen counter and thought of all the changes and adjustments the Doctor had made since he arrived on Pete's World.

He had not only admitted that he loved her but he now did domestic, and he enjoyed it! He had taken on a job and a mortgage with carpets, thanks to their new home that they had recently bought so that they could be on their own.

And now, he had forced himself to be nice to her mum…well, sort of… and had unwittingly eaten pears.

Before she had found him again, she had thought that he loved her. She had hoped so anyway. But now, with everything that he had said and done recently for her and their life together, she finally knew. Oh, she knew.

She pushed off from the counter to see how the Doctor was faring. Rose grimaced as she walked into the bathroom and found him clutching the toilet and gasping for air. She really hoped that her mum wasn't still wearing the ring, she couldn't imagine what he was thinking of her now.

Rose wet a washcloth and tended to him. When she had put him to bed last night, he had admitted that he felt weak and helpless and that it scared him.

She had told him that they would work through it together and reminded him that time had proven again and again, that together they could accomplish anything. He had smiled at her with a far away look in his eye and told her that if he believed in anything, then he believed in her.

Rose was drawn back to the present by the Doctor's violent retching. She rubbed his back as she waited for him to finish.

Yes, she truly believed that they could handle anything that life threw at them. But if they really wanted to start living their fantastic life together she thought as she looked at the ceiling while he continued to be sick, he'd really have to stop doing that.

THE END


End file.
